20 Movies That Will Make You Wish You Were Born In A Different Decade

One of the many great things movies can do for us is transport us back in time. Whether we want to see what it was like for soldiers fighting in World War II, see France during the 1950s, or just get a taste of what life was like for American high school kids back in the '80s, there's a movie out there for it all.

Don't get us wrong, we're totally happy to be living in the progressive 2000s, but there's something about these classic movies that make us wish we had been born just a little bit earlier, in an era where roller discos were popular and people went on actual dates. Here are 20 movies that'll make you wish you were born in a different decade, even just for 90 minutes.

The '80s: Sixteen Candles

Universal Pictures

Sixteen Candles is a feel-good rom-com that came out all the way back in 1984. The movie was written and directed by romance legend John Hughes and stars Molly Ringwald, Michael Schoeffling, and Anthony Michael Hall. The movie is set in a typical American high school and follows moody teenager Samantha as she realizes literally *no one* remembered it was her birthday. Everything about this flick makes us want to spend a day in an '80s high school, from the outfits, to the boys, and also the amazing soundtrack.

The '90s: Clueless

Paramount Pictures

Every '90s baby will remember watching Clueless as a kid and PRAYING the day when they would turn 16 and live a life like Cher would just come quicker. The movie came out in 1995 and follows the queen bee and her two friends while they live at the top of the pecking order in a wealthy US high school. Okay, so we know being a teenager in the nineties didn't mean you were automatically rich and beautiful, but watching this movie made us wish we were that few years older! The boys were hot, the parties looked fun, and don't even get us started on the fashion *drools*.

The '50s: Grease

Paramount Pictures

Grease turned 40 last year which is kind of crazy. The movie came out all the way back in 1978 and depicted a dreamy picture of high school in the '80s. Everything about Grease looked attractive to us as kids; the teens seemed to have so much freedom — driving around in their fancy cars, going to drive-in movies, sitting in their local diner late at night and having budding summer romances. If that's what life was like in the '50s, sign us up! One of the most memorable scenes in the flick was the dance all the kids went to — we'd give anything to get to wear one of those retro dresses for a night.

The '90s: 10 Things I Hate About You

Touchstone Pictures

10 Things I Hate About You did more than make us fall deeply in love with Heath Ledger — it made us want to go to that exact school that Kat and her pals went to in 1999. This movie painted an ideal image of high school romances, which is why we were pretty shook when we got to high school in the 2000s and men weren't falling all over us ... rude. Only in the '90s would a teenage boy stand on the bleachers in front of a large group of people and sing to you ... these days you'd be lucky to get a text back. Time machine rental, anyone?

The '90s: You’ve Got Mail

Warner Brothers

We'll give you a heads up that there will be a whole lot of romantic comedies on this list, and even more Meg Ryan. You've Got Mail is a Nora Ephron movie, so it ticks all the rom-com boxes. The movie was made in 1998 and accurately depicts the earlier days of online dating. It definitely makes us wish we were looking for love in the nineties, before Tinder, Grindr, Bumble, and Hinge were ever a thing. Yea, Meg and Tom Hanks' characters met online, but they were engaging in deep conversation and weren't swiping just for fun.

The '90s: Never Been Kissed

20th Century Fox

We LOVE a Drew Barrymore rom-com and this one is one of our favorites. Josie is a junior copywriter at one of Chicago's biggest magazines who lands her big break going undercover as a teenager at her former high school. The movie came out in 1999, and although the outfit choices back then were definitely not too admirable, we think any writer would be happy to be starting out their career during that period of time. Yea, we have better resources now, but how often do journalists get to go undercover and research a massive story like Josie? Not very.

The '90s: Four Weddings and a Funeral

Working Title Films

Another '90s classic, Four Weddings and a Funeral is one of Hugh Grant's best projects that stole our hearts when it came out in 1994. The story followed a lovable English man who is unlucky in love until he meets an American girl on multiple occasions at British functions (i.e weddings and funerals). If '90s Britain really was the way it was depicted in this movie — posh with great parties every week — then that's the era we wish we lived in. Also, everything seemed to work out romantically for '90s movie characters, so we'll take that too.

The '80s: The Breakfast Club

Universal Pictures

It's kind of a fact that any John Hughes movie starring Molly Ringwald makes us wish we were '80s teenagers. The Breakfast Club is probably the only movie ever that can glorify punishment and make detention look not so bad. The film came out in 1985 and follows the story of five teenagers who have to spend an entire Saturday in detention together. Each of the kids has a chance to tell their own story and make their classmates see them in a different light. The movie seriously makes us wish our education experience was as fun as these guys'.

The '50s & the '80s: Back To The Future

Universal Pictures

Back to the Future came out in 1985 and unlike most movies, it made us envious of multiple decades we weren't alive during. The movie follows Marty McFly, a kid who gets thrown back to the '50s to make sure his parents end up meeting each other and falling in love. Not only are we pretty jealous of Marty's life in the '80s, which was when the movie came out, but we're also kind of envious of the era his parents grew up in in the 1950s. Once again we get a glimpse of the school dances they had back then and we just really want to experience one.

The '50s: Stand By Me

Columbia Pictures

Stand by Me came out in 1986 but was set in small-town 1959 Oregon. The movie was based on a novel by Stephen King called The Body, and although the plot was pretty grim, revolving around four boys who set off in search of a dead body, the story was pretty moving. Each of the boys ends up learning a lot about each other and their different home lives and they form an unbreakable bond, which kind of makes us wonder what it was like to grow up in the '50s. The fact that these kids had no technology and nothing to do but spend time together sounds good to us.

The '80s: Dirty Dancing

Great American Films Limited Partnership

Vacationing with our parents doesn't sound too thrilling, we have to admit, but doing it in the 1980s might not have been too bad — at least for Baby it wasn't. Dirty Dancing came out in 1987 and told the story of a young woman who ends up spending her summer in a resort with her parents. Just when she thought she was going to have the worst summer ever, she ends up falling in love with a hot dance instructor working on the resort. Finding a man that can dance in this day and age doesn't happen all too often, so we wouldn't mind spending a day in 1987 and finding our own Patrick Swayze to lift us up over his head.

The '80s: Pretty In Pink

Paramount Pictures

This list isn't all John Hughes movies, but he was the king of '80s rom-coms. Pretty In Pink came out in 1986 and, like the other two JH movies on this list, it starred a young Molly Ringwald. The movie follows a teenage girl who's a bit of an outcast at her high school before she's asked out by one of the richest and most popular kids in her class. Like most movies from that decade, this flick makes us wish we could spend a semester in an '80s high school, without all the class and race issues, obviously.

The '90s: First Wives Club

Paramount Pictures

First Wives Club made its big-screen debut in 1996 and we've loved it ever since. It tells the story of three former college BFFs who reunite after the untimely death of their fourth friend by suicide due to her ex-husband remarrying. The gals decide to come together to plot against the exes that did them wrong, rebuilding their friendship in the process. There are lots of iconic scenes in this movie and the soundtrack is incredible, but one of the most admirable things about it is the character's friendship. We know you can find good friends in any decade ... but it just looks more glam in the '90s.

The '90s: Father of the Bride

Touchstone Pictures

You don't have to be a daddy's girl for Father of the Bride to tug at your heartstrings. This 1991 movie starring Steve Martin tells the story of George, a middle-aged father who is left lost for words when his only daughter announces that she's engaged. There are multiple things about this movie that make us wish we were born earlier, one of them being the Banks' house — they just don't make them like that anymore. And two, the fact that the parents paid for and hosted the entire wedding. We know it's super backward, but weddings are expensive ...

The '80s: Say Anything

Gracie Films

Say Anything is the perfect movie to display romance in the '80s and is probably the reason us women have such high expectations when it comes to love. It follows the story of a normal high school student who attemps to win the heart of a prim and proper straight-A student who has a seriously over protective father. The scene when John Cusack stands outside the girl's house with the boom box will go down in history as one of the most romantic scenes ever and we know we'll never experience a gesture like it. Why? Because it's no longer the '80s.

The '70s & the '80s: When Harry Met Sally

Columbia Pictures

When Harry Met Sally came out in 1989 and it's still one of the world's favorite romantic comedies. The plot spans from 1977, when Harry and Sally have just finished college, up until the present day in the late 1980s. It tells the story of two opposite-sex friends who try to prove the point that men and women can be friends without things becoming sexual. You can probably guess how it works out, so this movie continues to fuel our obsession with love in the '80s and how it wasn't always about who's commenting on your Instagram pic.

The '80s: Wet Hot American Summer

Eureka Pictures

Wet Hot American Summer may have come out in 2001, but it was set 20 years earlier, which is good enough for us. It tells the story of a group of young camp counselors who have one day of summer left to sleep with one of their fellow campmates. This is another movie that paints a picture of a wild summer back in the '80s when there were no phones, so social media, and just some kids in the middle of nowhere getting drunk and embracing nature. While we're not too sure exactly how long we could go without Twitter, it is a nice idea.

The '70s: The Runaways

River Road Entertainment

The Runaways is a 2010 movie that explores the lives of the 1970s all-female rock band of the same name. The movie explores the relationship between the bad front-women, Cherie Currie and Joan Jett, and shows what it was like for women in the music industry throughout the '70s. While the girls clearly experience some gender discrimination on their journey, the movie glamorizes the music scene in the '70s and we can't help but wonder what it'd be like to go to a rock gig back then. The '70s were also a pretty big turning point in terms of women's rights, so we can guess it was a cool decade to be alive in.

The '60s: Dreamgirls

Warner Brothers

Dreamgirls is set in 1962 and it didn't take Beyoncé to make this era look glam AF (but she didn't hurt!). The story follows the history and evolution of black R&B music through a talented, young, female trio of singers. The movie actually came out in 2006, but everything about it screams the '60s and makes us wonder what it would be like to live during such a historical time when R&B music was being brought to life. The soundtrack to the film is known for being one of the most movie soundtracks ever (it does feature Bey and Jennifer Hudson, after all) and don't even get us started on the wardrobe!

The '60s: Hairspray

New Line Cinema

Hairspray has had multiple movies and broadway remakes, but the 2007 version is one of our favorites. The movie is set in 1960s Baltimore and focuses on the music and dance scene during the height of racial segregation. Although Baltimore looks like a grim place during that time, the movie does its best to bring positivity to its storyline and shows the beginning of the integration movement across America. Like most '60s movies, this one makes us envious of the decade thanks to the big hair, great music, and amazing outfits.